Planet 7.

4
Planet General Model Technical Notes
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Last updated Friday, October 9, 2020

 Planet General Model
Technical Note

Introduction
The Planet General Model is a good propagation model to use for macro-cell
planning. It is best used for frequencies between 150 and 2000 MHz where
the distance between the transmitter and the receiver ranges between 1 and
100 kilometers. Ideally, when using this model, the base station antenna
heights should range between 30 and 1000 meters and the mobile station
antenna heights should be between 1 and 10 meters.
How the Planet General Model was originally implemented in Planet DMS
and how this model has been implemented in Planet differ. On one hand,
when Planet DMS performs predictions, it calculates the path loss for each
pixel or element within the prediction area by calculating a terrain profile
from the base site to that element. The profile is used by the propagation
model to calculate the path loss to that point. Predictions do not include
losses or gains due to antenna masks. This allows real time masking of
antennas each time the prediction is loaded. The height profiles have been
compensated for the effect of the Earth’s curvature. A radius of 4/3rds of the
Earth’s true radius (4/3 x 6300km = 8400 km) is often used, although this can
be changed in the Planet DMS Model Editor.
On the other hand, when Planet performs predictions, it calculates a
prediction for each pixel along radials in the prediction area. Then, using
interpolation, Planet generates predictions in the prediction area on a per pixel
basis. This results in better control of the calculation time/accuracy ratio;
however, for this reason, there may be slight differences between the results
generated by Planet DMS and those generated by Planet. To minimize these
differences, you can increase the number of radials used in the prediction.

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 Planet General Model
Technical Note

Standard propagation model

The received signal strength at the mobile is given by the following equation.

PRX = PTX + K1 + K2logd + K3log Heff + K4Diffraction + K5log Hefflogd

+ K6Hmeff  + KCLUTTER

Where

PRX is the receive power in dBm

PTX is the transmit power (ERP) in dBm.
K1 is the constant offset in dB.
K2 is the
multiplying factor for log(d).
With the two piece model, both K1 and K2 can be assigned two sets of values.
One set is used for d< distance and the other for d> distance, where distance is
the distance in meters away from the base site specified in the Model Editor.
K3 is the multiplying factor for log( Heff ). It compensates for gain due to
antenna height.
K4 is the multiplying factor for diffraction calculation.
K5 is the Okumura-Hata type of multiplying factor for logHefflogd .
K6 iscorrection factor for the mobile effective antenna height gain ( K6Heff ).
d is the distance, in meters, of the receiver from the base site.
Heff is the effective height of base site antenna from ground.

Diffraction is the value calculated for loss due to diffraction over an

obstructed path. The value produced is a negative number so a positive
multiplication factor, K4 is required.
KCLUTTER is the gain in dB for the clutter type at the mobile position in

Planet DMS. In Planet, KCLUTTER represents a loss.

Hmeff is the mobile effective antenna height.

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 Planet General Model
Technical Note

Effective antenna heights

Effective antenna height at the transmitter

The effective antenna height (Heff ) in meters described in the previous
equation may be calculated from any one of the following variables:
 Base height
 Spot height
 Average height
 Slope
 Ground Reflection Slope
 Profile
 Absolute spot height
Base height
Effective antenna height (Heff ) is set equal to the base site height above
ground.
Spot height

If H0b  H0mthen Heff = Hb + H0 b – H0 m

If H0b  H0mthen Heff = Hb

Where

Hb is the antenna height above ground at the base site.

H0 b is the terrain height above sea level at the base site.
H0 m is the terrain height above sea level at the mobile site.
Average height
The average height is defined as the height of the base site antenna above the
average terrain height, calculated over the total area of the prediction. The
effective antenna height ( Heff ) is set equal to average height.
In Planet, the average height is a user-defined value.
Slope
The effective height of the antenna is calculated using the slope of the terrain
over a specified distance up to the antenna. Figure 1 on page 6 displays the
slope algorithm.

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 Planet General Model
Technical Note

The slope algorithm is

Heff = h1 – h2 + K  d


Where
h1 is the ground height at transmitter + antenna height.
h2 is the ground height at receiver + mobile height.
d is the distance, in meters, of receiver from base site.
K is the slope. This is calculated over a user specified distance ds from the
mobile towards the base station using the difference in height over that range.

ds

Tx
h1
Heff
Rx

Slope K

Figure 1 Slope algorithm for effective antenna height

Ground Reflection Slope

The effective height of the antenna is calculated using the slope of the terrain
at the ground reflection point closest to the receiver. The calculation
automatically imposes a limit of 0.8 to 4 times the height of the base station
antenna. The values specified for the Minimum Height and Maximum Height
have no effect on the calculation if they are not within these limits. If the line
of sight between the transmitting and receiving antennas is obstructed, the
height of the base station antenna above ground is used.

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 Planet General Model
Technical Note

Profile
The profile algorithm calculates an average height along the profile between
the transmitter and receiver. Heff can be calculated in three ways:
 using CCIR recommendations

 using the Okumura calculations

 using user-defined start and end points for the profile
Using CCIR recommendations
There are three conditions for the distance between the point under
consideration and the antenna:
 less than 3 km
 between 3 and 15 km
 greater than 15 km
(i) Distance to the antenna is less than 3 km

H eff = H transmitter + H ground

Where
Htransmitter is
the antenna height on the mast.
The effective antenna height is the height of the antenna above the ground. An
antenna mounted 30 m up on a mast at a ground height of 20 m would confer
a H eff of 50 m on any pixel within 3 km along any profile.
(ii) Distance to the antenna is between 3 km and 15 km

Heff = Htransmitter + Hground – averageheight

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 Planet General Model
Technical Note

Where
Htransmitter is
the antenna height on the mast
Hground is the height or DTM height of the base above sea level
average height is given by:
sum of pixel heights along profile from 3km to distant point
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
number of pixels along this profile

(iii) If distance to antenna is greater than 15 km, the equation for effective
antenna height is identical to that in (ii) above. However, average height is
now given by:
sum of pixel hights along profile from 3km to 15km
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
number of pixels along this profile

Okumura calculations for effective antenna height

Effective antenna height is given by the same equation as CCIR (ii) above.
Again, the expression for the average height varies with the distance as
follows.
(i) The distance to the antenna is between 3 km and 15 km.
average height is given by

sum of pixel heights along profile from base of antenna to po

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
number of pixels along this point

(ii) The distance to the antenna is greater than 15 km.

For all points over 15 km, the average height between 3 km and 15 km is
used.
average height is therefore

sum of pixel heights along profile from 3 km to 15 km

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
number of pixels along this profile

User-defined start/end points

You can define the start and end points of the profile, in kilometers from the
antenna base.

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 Planet General Model
Technical Note

Absolute spot height

This algorithm uses the equation: Heff = Hb + H0b – H0m

The absolute value of H0b – H0m is used.

Effective antenna height is not limited to Hb as the mobile height ( H0m ) goes
above the base height ( H0b ).

Effective antenna height at the mobile

The standard propagation model uses the mobile effective antenna height
together with a linear correction factor (K6 ).

Hmeff = h0m + hm – h0b

The following figure shows how these heights are calculated.

base
mobile
h0b hm
h0m

Figure 2 Effective antenna height at the mobile

Obstruction loss equations

Calculating obstruction loss

The prediction routine creates a “height path profile” between the base site
and mobile and calculates the obstruction position as shown in Figure 3 (in
this case only one obstruction is shown). A straight line between base site and
mobile is shown and the height of the obstruction above this line, ci is
calculated. The obstruction position, di is also recorded. From these variables,
vi , the argument of the Fresnel integral is calculated.

2d
vi = ci --------------------------
did – di

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 Planet General Model
Technical Note

Where  is the wavelength and d is the terrain slope distance. A value of vi

less than -0.8 indicates sufficient clearance for the Fresnel zone is obtained
over the whole path. The path loss equation for line of sight is used. Where a
loss is indicated, the Fresnel integral is used.


1+j 2
--E--- = ----------  e –j  2v dv
E0 2 
vi
This is an integral and stored as a lookup table for values of - 0.8  vi < 2.0
and the loss is calculated from.
E
PLOSS = 20  log -----
E0

Where the value of vi is greater than or equal to 2.0, an approximation is used.

0.225
--E--- = ------------
E0 vi

For multiple diffraction edges, this knife edge diffraction calculation is

applied to each edge in turn and the result in dB is summed. The following
figure shows terrain with two obstructions, edge A and B. The variables ci , di
and d are used in the diffraction equation as before.

Edge A
Edge B
ci

di

Base Site Mobile

Figure 3 Obstruction Loss, Edge A

For edge B, the variables cb , dam and dab are similarly used, as shown in the
following figure.
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 Planet General Model
Technical Note

Edge A

Edge B

cb

dam

Base Site Mobile

Figure 4 Obstruction Loss, Edge B

Path loss lookup table

The following table is the look-up table used in calculating the path losses, in
dB. For intermediate values, the loss is linearly interpolated.
Table 1.1 Path loss

vi Ploss
-0.8 0.0
-0.7 -0.46
-0.6 -1.13
-0.5 -1.86
-0.4 -2.64
-0.3 -3.45
-0.2 -4.29
-0.1 -5.15
0.0 -6.02
0.1 -6.90
0.2 -7.74
0.3 -8.59
0.4 -9.42
0.5 -10.23
0.6 -11.03
0.7 -11.77
0.8 -12.50
0.9 -13.15

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 Planet General Model
Technical Note

Table 1.1 Path loss (continued)

vi Ploss
1.0 -13.85
1.1 -14.52
1.2 -15.09
1.3 -15.70
1.4 -16.25
1.5 -16.77
1.6 -17.27
1.7 -17.79
1.8 -18.20
1.9 -18.63
2.0 -18.94

Troposcatter model
The troposcatter model is generally used in the Planet DMS Microwave tool.
It is set when the Use the Troposcatter Model check box in the Planet DMS
Model Editor is selected and the distance between the transmitter and the
point at which loss is calculated is greater than the transition distance, dt .
Where dt = dh, when dh > 90.3953
Otherwise, dt = dhata
Where

a0
dh = 2----------- hpcs + hmw
1000
and

dh is the transhorizon distance in km.

a0 is the effective earth radius in km.
hpcs and hmw PCS and MW Receiver antenna heights above average
terrain.This applies if the height is greater than 5m, otherwise it is set at 5.

dhata = – 115 + 105log dh

Where

dhata is the Hata Merge Distance in km.

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 Planet General Model
Technical Note

The hourly median troposcatter loss 50% of the time is given by

L50 = M + 30log f + 10logd + 30log + NH h

Where

L50 is the hourly median transmission loss 50% of the time (dB).
f is the frequency (MHz).
d is the path length (km).
 (d-dh)/8.5 (milliradians) - dh is defined above.
and
NH h = 20log 5 + H + 4.343h

Where
H equals d/4000.
h equals 10-62a0/8 km.
a0 is the effective earth radius in km.
M is the meteorological structure parameter; this value depends on the climate
type which you select in the Model Editor. The values for each climate type
are given in the table below.
 is the atmospheric structure parameters; this value depends on the climate
type which you select in the Model Editor. The values for each climate type
are given in the following table.

Climate 1 2 3 4 6 7a 7b

M (dB) 39.60 29.73 19.30 38.50 29.73 33.20 26.00

 (km-1) 0.33 0.27 0.32 0.27 0.27 0.27 0.27

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 Planet General Model
Technical Note

The climate types are:

Type 1 Equatorial

Type 2 Continental sub-tropical

Type 3 Maritime sub-tropical

Type 4 Desert

Type 6 Continental Temperate

Type 7a Maritime Temperate, over land

Type 7b Maritime Temperate, over sea

For confidence levels q above 50%, the loss becomes:

Lq = L50 + cqL90
Where

–4 –0.137h
L90 = – 2.2 – 8.1 – 2.3  10 fe
and cq is taken from the following table:

q 50 80 90 99 99.9 99.99

cq 0 0.67 1 1.82 2.41 2.90

The calculated loss is compared with the Free Space Loss along the path; if
the free space loss is greater, this is used rather than the troposcatter loss.

Microwave application
When the troposcatter model is used in a microwave application, for a
confidence level q above 50%, the troposcatter loss is calculated as follows:

Lq = L50 + Lc – cqL90
Where

Lc equals 0.07  exp 0.055  GT + GR

GT is the antenna gain of transmitter in dBi.
GR is the antenna gain of the receiver in dBi.

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 Planet General Model
Technical Note

Clutter effects

Clutter losses/gains
The loss/gain (referred to from now on as a loss for simplicity) due to clutter
is calculated as follows:

Receiver Base Station

L
Clutter losses are considered over a distance L.
L is in meters and is definable.
For x=0 to n
Clutter Loss = K*Fn(Kclutterx)
Where
x=0 is the pixel at the mobile.
x=n is the pixel that is L meters away.
K is a scaling coefficient (usually set to 1.0).
Kclutterx is the clutter loss from the clutter at point x.
Fn() is the function for weighting the clutter losses.
Currently the functions supplied are:
 Rectangular
 Triangular
 Logarithmic
 Exponential
With the rectangular function, each clutter loss has the same weighting. With
the others, clutter loss at the receiver has the highest effect. Clutter loss at n
has no effect. The triangular function gives a linear decay. Exponential decays
quickest near the mobile and logarithmic decays furthest from the mobile.

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 Planet General Model
Technical Note

Clutter heights
Clutter heights can be added to the terrain height during predictions to
calculate the obstructions loss more accurately. The clutter height is not added
to the terrain height at the transmitter. Clutter heights are never added at the
base station. The clutter separation factor is used to separate the mobile from
the surrounding clutter; that is, to prevent the mobile being swamped by the
clutter as a result of high diffraction losses.
This is achieved as follows:
Let the clutter separation be b, the mobile be at point Rx and the point on the
profile b meters from Rx be Rb:
 Planet will find the highest clutter height along the profile
between Rx and Rb. Let this be hmax.
 Planet will not add clutter heights to any points between
Rx and Rb. The clutter height added at Rb will be hmax.
 For the remainder of the profile, clutter heights will be added to
terrain heights normally.
So if a transmitter is on top of a building, the antenna height must be set to the
true height of the antenna plus the building height.
If a clutter category is to be assigned a height then it must also be assigned a
mobile-to-clutter edge separation distance as well:

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 Planet General Model
Technical Note

Physical

b
Rx Rb

Modelled

Rx Rb
Figure 5 Clutter heights

This distance is used to adjust local clutter heights for use in the diffraction
calculations. If this value is left at 0.0 the resultant very high diffraction
causes “wild” losses.

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 Planet General Model
Technical Note

Correction factors to Okumura and NTT

You can apply correction factors to Okumura/NTT models and to general
models.

Effective base station antenna height correction factor (Ht)

This is the effective base station antenna height correction factor:
Ht = A(log10hte)2 + B(log10hte) + C
Where
hte is the effective base station antenna height. Calculate this using the
Okumura recommendations.
A,B,C are the coefficients dependent on d, see below.
The table below shows coefficients for the effective height of base station
antenna correction factor at several distances.

d (km) A B C

1 0.5131 11.68 -23.32

3 0.2433 14.42 -27.31

5 0.3690 15.60 -29.94

10 0.5457 17.75 -34.66

20 2.568 11.89 -30.61

40 4.289 7.019 -27.66

70 4.225 4.830 -23.23

Linear interpolation is used between these values.

Rolling hilly correction factor (Kh)

This is the rolling hilly correction factor:

Kh = -5.180(log10h)2 +3.538(log10h) +3.105

Where
h is the difference in 10% and 90% heights over a distance X along the
profile from the receiver to the transmitter.

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 Planet General Model
Technical Note

10%

h
90%

Figure 6 Rolling hilly correction factor

Where
h> 20m and number of “peaks” greater than or equal to 3.
You can choose to set the distance X in 3 ways:
1 Use Okumura recommendations, up to 15km from transmitter.
2 Use CCIR recommendation, 10km to 50km from transmitter in direction
of receiver.
3 Define your own start and end points.

Rolling hilly correction fine factor (Khf)

This is the rolling hilly correction fine factor:
Khf = -1.4191(log10h)2 + 14.0544(log10h) -10.727
This correction factor is only applied at the top of a hill or at the bottom of a
valley.
Where
h is the difference in 10% and 90% heights over a distance X along the
profile from the receiver to the transmitter.
Then, at a position of undulation (peak or valley):
Khf (position of undulation/m) = Khf/(h/2) where h >
10mKhf (position of undulation/m) = 0.0 where h <= 10m
Then
Khf (position of undulation) = Khf (position of undulation/m) x ((h/2)-h)
Where

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 Planet General Model
Technical Note

h is the height at position of undulation.

The value of Khf (position of undulation) is the value that should be applied to the
propagation equation.

Inclination correction factor (Ksp)

This is only calculated if there is line-of-sight between the base site and the
mobile. It calculates the angle of inclination over a distance of 5km from
receive point to transmitter as follows:

h =ad +b

hi

di
5km

Figure 7 Inclination Correction Factor

The equation of the line is given as ha = ad +b (this line is obtained using a

least squares fit):
m = arctan(a) x 17.4532 (in mrad)
Then, if 3  |m|  20 mrad:
Ksp = Am2 + B m+ C
A, B, C are dependent on d:
The table below shows coefficients for inclination correction factor at several
distances:

d (km) A B C

>60 -0.009411 0.7620 0.22

=30 -0.013400 0.6313 -0.63

<10 -0.002394 0.2057 0.12

For other ranges of d, linear interpolation is used.

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 Planet General Model
Technical Note

Sea/lake edge correction factor (Kse)

If there is water at the side of the mobile:
Kse = -0.0011912 +0.2620 + 0.27 for d  Š60km
Kse = Kse30 + Coe(d-30)for 30km<d<60km
Coe =(Kse60-Kse30)/(60-30)
Kse = -0.0007892 + 0.1868 +0.06for d  30km
If there is water at the side of the base station:
Kse = 0.0004542 +0.1143 +0.27for d  60km
Kse = Kse30 + Coe(d-30)for 30km<d<60km
Coe =(Kse60-Kse30)/(60-30)
Kse = 0.00057952 + 0.06893 - 0.09for d  30km
where = dsr/d as a percentage.

Base site

Mobile

dsr

Figure 8 Sea/lake edge correction factor (Kse)

Suburban area correction factor (Ksub)

The correction factor for suburban areas is:
Ksub = 2 (log10 (fc/28))2 +5.4
Where
Ksub is the correction value (dB).
fc is the frequency in MHz.
If Lp is the standard equation for the loss in an urban area in dB then for the
suburban area:
Lps = Lp - Ksub
Where
Lps is the loss in a suburban area (dB).

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 Planet General Model
Technical Note

Open area correction factor (Kopen)

The correction factor for open areas is:
Kopen = 4.78 (log10 fc)2 - 18.33 log10 fc + 40.94
Where
Kopen is the correction value (dB).
fc is the frequency in MHz.
If Lp is the standard equation for the loss in an urban area in dB then for the
open area:
Lpo = Lp - Kopen
Where
Lpo is the loss in an open area (dB).

Knife edge correction factor (Kim)

The correction factor for knife edge is:
Kim = 0.07÷h (Ad 24 + Bd 23 + Cd 22 + Dd 2)
Where
Kim is the correction value (dB).
h is the height of knife edge.
d2 is the distance from knife edge to mobile (km).
d1is the distance from base station to knife edge (km).

height of knife edge

Tx Rx

d1 d2
Figure 9 Knife edge correction factor (Kim)

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 Planet General Model
Technical Note

A, B, C & D are dependant on d1:

d1 (km) A B C D

>60 0.08492 -1.677 11.47 -30.41

=30 0.06259 -1.280 9.184 -25.19

<15 0.04980 -1.065 8.102 -23.33

Multiple knife edge correction factor (Kmke)

The multiple knife edge correction factor is given by the term,
Kmke = -0.031072512Hi +1.39870768
where Hi are knife edges:
Hi

Tx Rx

Figure 10 Multiple knife edge correction factor (Kmke)

Building density correction factor (S)

The building density factor is defined as , such that 0% <  < 40%.
Then
S= 20 (  1%)
S= 20 -3.74(log10) - 9.75(log10)2(1%<<5%)
S= 26 -19.0(log10)(5)
These equations are valid for 2km< d < 40km.
Each clutter type has its own, user-definable, value for building density.

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 Planet General Model
Technical Note

Mobile antenna height correction factor (Hr)

The mobile antenna height correction factor, Hr, is valid for all Okumura
frequencies and clutter types.
Hr = 22.92(log10hre)3 - 10.27(log10hre)2 + 10.16(log10hre) -1.9
Where
hre is the mobile antenna height (m).

Tuning the Planet General model using AMT

The components of the Planet General model can be optimized using the
Automatic Model Tuner (AMT) tool.

Technical overview
AMT optimizes the clutter absorption loss and K1 to K5 factors. For more
information on the path loss equation for Planet General model, see “Standard
propagation model” on page 4.
To determine the K factors that can be automatically tuned, AMT performs
correlation and cross-correlation tests between the predicted path loss and the
log dm , Dloss , and log Heff model components.
The correlation factor calculations determine the model components that are
similar with the actual path loss. A high correlation value (1) between a model
component and path loss implies high similarity, indicating that the
component can model path loss well.
For example, if the correlation factor between path loss and diffraction is
small (close to 0), using diffraction loss will not improve the root mean square
(RMS) error of the model significantly. If you optimize the diffraction loss
factor (K4), the RMS error will not be reduced by a significant amount and
the optimized value for K4 might be invalid (less than 0).

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Technical Note

Correlation and cross-correlation thresholds

AMT uses a number of conditions based on the correlation calculations and
correlation thresholds to decide whether a condition should be optimized or
not. These conditions are outlined in Table 1.2 and Table 1.3.

Table 1.2 Correlation tests

Correlation Tests
Measurement Model Correlation Correlation
Data Component Factor Threshold (pT)
Path loss logd p2 0.0
Path loss –logheff p3 p3T (AMT default
is 0.2)

Path loss dloss p4 p4T (AMT default
is 0.2)

Table 1.3 Cross-correlation tests

Cross-correlation Tests
Measurement Model Correlation Correlation
Data Component Factor Threshold
dloss logd p24 p24T (AMT default
 is 0.9)
logHeff logdlog heff p35 p35T (AMT default
is 0.9)

Default values for model parameters

The following tables describe the default values for each model parameter in
the Planet Automatic Model Tuner dialog box.

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K1
Options Default value

Optimize Calculated by optimization

Hata urban For 150 to 1500 MHz:

44.9  3 – 69.55 + 26.16log f
For 1500 to 2000 MHz:
44.9  3 – 46.33 + 33.91log f


Hata suburban For 150 to 2000 MHz:

2
K1 + 2logf  28 + 5.4
HataUrban

Hata rural For 150 to 2000 MHz:

2
K1 + 4.78log f – 18.33log f + 40.94
HataUrban

Free space 60 – 32.44 – 20log f



User defined Value set by user

K2
Options Default value

Optimize Calculated by optimization

Hata value -44.9

Free space -20.0

User defined Value set by user

K3
Options Default value

Optimize Calculated by optimization

Hata value -5.83

Free space 0

User defined Value set by user

K4
Options Default value

Optimize Calculated by optimization

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Options Default value

User defined Value set by user

Hata value 0

Free space 0

K5
Options Default value

Optimize Calculated by optimization

Hata value 6.55

Free space 0

User defined Value set by user

Clutter Offsets
Options Default value

Optimize Calculated by optimization

Zero 0

User defined Value set by user

Requirements for optimization

Table 1.4 describes the optimization requirements for each factor.
Table 1.4 Optimization requirements for factors

K Factor Requirements for Optimization

K1 Can always be optimized
K2 Can always be optimized
K3 If p3  p3T and p3  0.01
K4 If p4  p4T and p24  p24T and p4  0.01
K5 If p3  p3T and p35  p35T and p3  0.01
Clutter offsets Can always be optimized

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To create an AMT template

1 Select a PGM model in the Propagation window, right-click and choose Edit.
The Create/Edit Propagation Model dialog box opens.
2 Choose Create New Propagation Model and, from the associated list,
choose Planet General Model, and click OK.
The Propagation Model Editor opens.
3 Click the Settings tab and, in the Name box, define a name for the new
model.
4 In the Receiver Height section, choose Global.
5 Click the General tab.
6 In the Model section, for the Type option, choose 1 Piece.
7 In the K Factors section, do all of the following:
 From the Intercept, K1 (near) list, choose User Defined, and
type -120 in the box.
 From the Slope, K2 (near) list, choose Hata Value.
 From the Effective Antenna Height Gain, K3 list, choose Free
Space.
 From the Diffraction Factor, K4 list, choose User Defined, and
type 1 in the box.
 From the Log(Heff) * Log(d) Factor, K5 list, choose Free
Space.
 From the Mobile Antenna Height Factor, K6 list, choose Free
Space.
8 In the Knife Edge section, in the Merging Distance box, type 100.
9 Click the Path Clutter tab and clear the Enable Path Clutter check box.
10 Click the Troposcatter Effect tab and clear the Enable Troposcatter
Model check box.
11 Click the Okumura tab and clear all of the check boxes.

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12 Click the Effective Antenna Height tab, and from the Type list, choose
Spot Height.
13 Edit any of the other settings as required.
14 Click OK.
The propagation model is saved in the Models folder of your project.

Developing an optimized Planet General model

This section describes how to create an optimized Planet General model using
the Standard method. To use the standard method, you should have a good
understanding of Planet and be well versed in how to tune a model.

If you have little or no knowledge of model tuning, you can use the
Smart method to tune your model.

To develop an optimized PGM using the Standard method

1 In the Propagation window, expand the Propagation Models node, right-click a
drive test and choose Tune.
2 In the Model Tuning dialog box, type a name for the tuned model in the
New Model Name box.
3 From the Model to Tune list, choose an AMT template file.
For more information on creating a template file, see “To create an AMT
template” on page 28.
4 From the Model Tuner list, choose Planet AMT Version 1.5.
5 In the Model Tuning dialog box, click Edit to modify the selected tuner.
The Planet Automatic Model Tuner dialog box opens.

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6 Do all of the following:

 From the K1, K2, and K4 lists, choose Optimize.
 From the K3 and K5 lists, choose Hata value, and set Clutter
Offsets to 0.
 Click OK to close the dialog box, and then click OK to begin the
model tuning process.
 Examine the mean error for each site. Note the sites with large
mean errors and RMS errors (assuming that there is a minimum
of 1000 points for each site). If not enough points are available
for the site, the mean error estimates will be inaccurate.
7 If K4 cannot be optimized, or if the optimized value of K4 is less than
0.2, do the following in the Planet Automatic Model Tuner dialog box:
 Type 0.5 in the K4 box
 Choose Optimize for K1 and K2 again
 Click OK to close the dialog box, and then click OK to begin the
model tuning process.
 Examine the mean error for each site.
8 If you want to further tune the model that you tuned in Step 7, do the
following in the Planet Automatic Model Tuner dialog box:
 From the K1, K2, and K4 lists, type values that you obtained in
Step 7.
 From the K3 and K5 lists, choose Hata value.
 From the Clutter Offsets list, choose Optimize.
 Click OK to close the dialog box, and then click OK to begin the
model tuning process.
 Examine the mean error for each site. Clutter offsets with values
less than 90 to 95% are considered to be unreliable estimates.
Unless you think that these values are unreasonable, unreliable
clutter values should not be used; instead, you should set their
values to 0.

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9 (Optional) If you want to further optimize the Planet General Model,

repeat the steps described in Step 8, and do the following in the Planet
General Model Parameters dialog box
 Click the Path Clutter tab.
 On the Path Clutter tab, enable the Enable Path Clutter check
box. Typical path clutter distances are 500 m to 1000 m.
 Click OK to close the dialog box, and then click OK to begin the
model tuning process.
 See if there are any improvements not only in the RMS error but
with the predictions.
10 Identify the sites that have a significant absolute mean error (greater than
5 dB) and see if these sites can be classified in a different environment.
Develop a new model for sites that have large mean errors.

Obtaining a model similar to Hata COST-231

The Hata COST-231 model for 9000 MHz and 1800 MHz has been obtained
from measurements in Europe. The model is composed of the Hata Urban
model plus a correction factor to account for different environments.
The Hata COST 231 model can be represented by the following equation:

Lp = kf – 13.82log 10hb + 44.9 – 6.55log 10hb

log10dkm + Clutter Absorption Loss


or

Lp = LHata + Clutter Absorption Loss

Where
Lp is the path loss (in dB)
hb is the height of the base station above ground level (in meters)
f is the frequency (in MHz)

dkm is the distance between the base station antenna and the mobile receiver
with a height of 1.5 meters
The Clutter Absorption Loss is the additional loss in dB with respect to the
Hata Urban path loss. The valid range of the parameters is:

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kf = 69.55 + 26.16log 10ffor f= 150 MHz to 1500 MHz

kf = 46.3 + 33.926.16log 10ffor f= 1500 MHz to 2000 MHz

Where
hb represents 30m to 200m
dkm represents 1 km to 20 km
hm represents 1.5 m
You can optimize the propagation model by setting factors K1 to K5 to the
Hata values (note that K4 is equal to 0 for the Hata model) and obtain the
Clutter Absorption Loss using AMT.

Using the Free Space factor

Knife Edge diffraction theory models propagation loss as
Free Space Loss + Diffraction Loss . This produces reasonable results in rural areas
where terrain is the main source of obstructions. You can set factors K1 to K2
to the Free Space values and optimize the diffraction factor, K4. You can
obtain better results when you set K2 to the Free Space value (-20) and set K1
and K4 to be optimized.
Another option is to set K2 to -20, K4 to 1.0 and to optimize K1 only (and the
Clutter Offsets factor if a variety of clutter classes exists in that area). Good
models can be obtained using this method in areas where shadowing is
dominated by terrain and not by buildings (i.e., highway sites in rural areas).
Even if the RMS error is large (greater than 9 dB), the prediction will most
likely be reasonable.

Using Okumura correction factors

An Okumura-Hata propagation model is derived empirically for areas with
quasi-smooth terrain (i.e., with no significant terrain variations or hills). The
effects of the terrain are accounted for using specified Okumura correction
factors. The height parameter (hb) in the Hata-Okumura model corresponds to
the height of the base station.
When the Okumura correction factors are used, it is appropriate to use the
Base Height algorithm when determining the Effective Antenna Height. Other
algorithms that can be used and produce reasonable model factors are the Spot
Height, Absolute Spot Height, and Profile algorithms. When you use the

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Slope algorithm, it is recommended that you set K5 to 0. It is also

recommended that Okumura correction factors are not used with the Slope
algorithm. These recommendations are based on analyses of real
measurement data.
Effects of each model component
You can observe the effect of each component in the model and check if an
acceptable RMS error can be obtained from a simpler model using the
following steps:
1 In the Planet Automatic Model Tuner dialog box, do the following:
 Choose Optimize from the K1 and K2 lists.
 Choose Hata from the K3 and K5 lists.
 Type 0.5 in the K4 box.
 Type 0 in the Clutter Offsets box.
 Click OK to close the dialog box, and then click OK to begin the
tuning process.
 See if there is an improvement in the RMS error.
2 If there was an improvement in the RMS error for K1 and K2, do the
following in the Planet Automatic Model Tuner dialog box:
 Type the values that you obtained for K1 and K2 in Step 1 in the
respective boxes.
 Choose Optimize from the K4 list.
 Choose Hata from the K3 and K5 lists.
 Type 0 in the Clutter Offsets box.
 Click OK to close the dialog box, and then click OK to begin the
tuning process.
 See if there is an improvement in the RMS error.

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 Planet General Model
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3 If there was an improvement in the RMS error, do the following in the

Planet Automatic Model Tuner dialog box:
 Type the values that you obtained for K1, K2, and K4 in Step 2
in the respective boxes.
 Choose Optimize from the K3 list.
 Choose Hata from the K5 list.
 Type 0 in the Clutter Offsets box.
 Click OK to close the dialog box, and then click OK to begin the
tuning process.
 See if there is an improvement in the RMS error.
4 If there was an improvement in the RMS error, do the following in the
Planet Automatic Model Tuner dialog box:
 Type the values that you obtained for K1, K2, K4, and K3 in
Step 3 in the respective boxes.
 Choose Optimize from the K5 list.
 Type 0 in the Clutter Offsets box.
 Click OK to close the dialog box, and then click OK to begin the
tuning process.
 See if there is an improvement in the RMS error.
5 In the Planet General Model Parameters dialog box, do the following:
 Click the Effective Antenna Height tab.
 On the Effective Antenna Height tab, choose an algorithm from
the Type list.
 Click OK to close the dialog box, and then click OK to begin the
tuning process.
 Repeat these steps to see which algorithm displays a higher
correlation and produces a lower RMS error or lower maximum
error.

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 Planet General Model
Technical Note

6 If there was an improvement in the RMS error, do the following in the

Planet General Model Automatic Model Tuner dialog box:
 Type the values that you obtained for K1, K2, K3, K4, and K5 in
Step 4 in the respective boxes.
 Choose Optimize from the Clutter Offsets list.
 Click OK to close the dialog box, and then click OK to begin the
tuning process.

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 Planet General Model
Technical Note

36